Rare 1926 Macallan Whisky auction set to create buzz with estimated £1.2 million price tag

Sotheby's will auction off a bottle of Scotch whiskey that has been dubbed "the most sought-after" by the auction house. The Macallan Adami 1926,' a 96-year-old bottle of single malt from the legendary Macallan distillery, will be auctioned off in London on November 18 for up to £1.2 million ($1.4 million). Prospective buyers can start participating in advance bidding from November 1.

Previously, a version of 'The Macallan 1926' fetched an astounding £1.5 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2019, marking a record-breaking price for any bottle of wine or spirit. Notably, this exceptional whisky's appearance in three distinct bottle variations at auctions in 2018 and 2019 led to the record being broken three times.

"The Macallan 1926 is the whisky that every auctioneer wants to sell and every collector wants to own," Sotheby's Global Head of Spirits Jonny Fowle remarked. I'm definitely looking forward to going to a Sotheby's auction for the first time since we broke the vintage record four years ago."


After maturing in sherry casks for an impressive six decades, only 40 bottles of 'The Macallan 1926' were bottled, making them the distillery's oldest vintage. Sotheby's disclosed that some of these 40 bottles were initially offered to Macallan clients. Remarkably, up to 14 of them were adorned with Macallan's iconic 'Fine and Rare' label, including the one that set the record.

Interestingly, the bottle that is poised to go under the hammer next month is the first to have undergone reconditioning by the distillery before the auction. This process involved replacing the cork and applying fresh glue to the corners of the bottle labels.

The upcoming auction promises to be a remarkable event for whisky enthusiasts and collectors, with 'The Macallan Adami 1926' expected to draw substantial interest and potentially break previous records in the world of rare spirits.